Tag Archives: state government

Islanders Jay Inslee and Christine Rolfes took early leads as
the first batch of primary election results were released last
night.

Inslee, who is seeking his seventh term in Congress, had 56.8
percent of the vote, according to early returns. Of his three
challengers, Republican James Watkins had the strongest support,
with 26.1 percent.

Inslee’s support in Kitsap was actually slightly lower than in
the rest of his district, which includes Redmond, Kirkland, Edmonds
and Shoreline. The Kitsap portion of his district (Bainbridge,
North Kitsap, Silverdale) gave Inslee 53.6 percent of the vote.
Kitsapers also cast slightly more ballots in favor of Inslee
challenger Matthew Burke than the rest of the district, and gave
just a little less support to Watkins.

Rolfes, a former Bainbridge city councilwoman who now represents
the 23rd Legislative District in the state House, drew 56.6 percent
of the early return votes. Republican challenger and fellow
islander James Olsen had 32.8 percent. A second Republican
candidate, Aaron Winters, drew 10.3 percent.

For more coverage of the primary, head over to the Sun’s main
page, HERE.

Rep. Christine Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island) has a fellow
islander challenging her for the state House seat she’s held for
nearly four years.

Retired U.S. Coast Guard officer and local Republican activist
James Olsen is running against Rolfes on a smaller-government,
pro-business platform.

They are joined by Poulsbo Republican Aaron Winters, an
unemployed construction foreman.

Watch the above video to see all three discuss the economy,
state spending and other matters with Sun editor David Nelson.
That’s Rolfes on the left side, Olsen’s in the middle and Winters
is on the right.

A bill allowing Bainbridge Islanders to vote early on changing
their form of government passed the state House by a wide margin on
Wednesday.

Sponsored by Rep. Christine Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island), House
Bill 1066 passed 95 to two. The bill now moves to the Senate, where
it is scheduled for a committee hearing on Monday.

If expedited through the Senate, the bill could allow a public
vote in May on whether to replace the city’s elected mayor position
with a hired city manager.

“It was remarkable,” Rolfes said of the bill’s easy passage. “It
passed by such a large margin most likely because it’s a very
straightforward bill. Legislators, all of whom have run for
office, many of whom come from local government, could see the
difficulty of the situation and were willing to fix it.”

Sen. Phil Rockefeller (D-Bainbridge Island) persuaded his
colleagues on Thursday to allow the bill an early hearing on the
Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee.

“This will expedite action on the special election bill, and I
hope we can get it voted out of that committee quickly,” he
said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s cost-cutting plan to close Fay Bainbridge
and Fort Ward state parks came as a surprise to many island
residents and public officials.

It also raised some big questions: Will the land be sold to
developers? What about the planned sewer system connecting to Point
Monroe? Is the Bainbridge park district or city or even the county
willing to absorb and manage the large waterfront parks? Why does
Bainbridge have to suffer the loss of two of the 13 parks slated
for closure?